Hip-Hop & Haterade: Why It’s Ruining The Game

The evolution of social media did a lot of great things for hip-hop. It gave us social forums for discussing music, free exchange of media, and unprecedented access to the artists themselves. The flipside of that coin is that the artists also have access to us. We “get” to read their meltdowns and hissy-fits and dumbest thoughts imaginable via Twitter. We get to look on as the likes of Wale and Benzino respond to criticism of their work, which, depending on the viewer, may taint their ability to even respect the artist for his or her art. Any perusal of a few videos on YouTube would show you that the comments people tend to leave on even the most obscure videos are sometimes overly critical of the artist, whether it stems from actual hate or boredom.

What comes from this, then, is the general assumption by the common simpleton that any negative opinion or even constructive criticism of an artist (or even athlete or other celeb) is “hatin'”. While this was something previously practiced by delusional stans, it’s now being adopted by the artists themselves when responding to any perceived negativity. “You’re just mad because you’re broke” is now the response if someone doesn’t like the product you are paid to put out for public consumption. You’re right…I am broke…which is why I have every right to talk sh*t about the trash mixtape you put out in the hopes people will pay good money for your trash CD. I’m broke…okay, but how does that explain the Burlington Coat Factory music you just tried to pass off as the new hot sh*t? Artists have lost the accountability to the art. Many of them feel they have only an obligation to slap together what will be marketable and get all kinds of props and adulation strictly because it’s them. Nah.

The stans are even worse than the artists themselves with it. You can have a perfectly valid and well-thought-out reason for not liking their favorite artist and the stan will sit there and listen to your entire monologue only to conclude with: “yeah…you hatin'”. Unbelievable. Player-hating used to be a valid term. Haters were those who weren’t in the game so they actively envied those that were. These days, hating is used to describe any negative thought that the accused levels against anyone who is more well known or better paid than they are. Hating is used as a copout when a stan can’t logically state their argument. In closing, everything isn’t hate…sometimes you’re just wack.

1 Comment

I couldn’t agree more. I even wrote my own blog about it! Hating has allowed wakness to infiltrate and dominate the scene. All you need to do is point to the stacks you have amassed by peddling bullshit music and it excuses the poor quality of the work.
One of the reasons why HipHop was so highly regarded is the quality control. Dudes would get called out if they were wak. Now they get signed…
Good article.